Born and bred in Belfast, a young Phil Kieran scored himself a residency at Shine nightclub by the age of 19. He quickly proved himself to be unquestionably talented, and this turned into a 6-year residency at the now infamous nightclub.

Phil Kieran’s gritty and carefully executed production style is reminiscent of the artists he so admires, enabling him to collaborate with some of the biggest names in the game such as David Holmes and Gary Numan. His cleverly curated sets contain all things dirty and addictive and seem to completely envelop crowds. With a resume that not only boasts an expansive discography dating almost 20 years, Kieran has also dabbled in the art of film scoring, working with director Steven Soderbergh on his 2009 project The Girlfriend Experience. His latest EP, ‘Polyrhythmic’ released under Optimo Record Label earlier this year, is arguably his best yet.

There’s the picture perfect world we all pretend we are living on Facebook and Instagram, constant parties and happy smiles.

But when you go home at night and close your door on the world, the darkness creeps in.

It’s like Phil Kieran says: “To understand beauty, you’ve got to know ugly. There’s a dark side to everything and I think people are like that too.”

This is the basis for Kieran’s new album Blinded By The Sun, his fourth to date but only the second under his own name.

Kieran is one of Ireland’s best-loved club DJs and techno legends who has worked with everyone from Green Velvet to Peter Hook and Depeche Mode and has worked closely with David Holmes on numerous projects.

Blinded By The Sun is another departure for the producer and electronic master but for Kieran, it’s important to feel that fear and do it anyway.

Kieran explains: “I think it’s more a case of trying to make sure when you do put something out that it’s good.

“When you say something, it has to matter.”

Blinded By The Sun captures those moments in life – whether at post-party 3am or when you’re just unsure of your footing on life’s ladder – that subconscious split second of doubt that can destroy everything if you let it.

Kieran explains: “Everyone has ugly stuff and beautiful stuff at the same time

“We’re all a bit of both.

“It’s that part of life you really want to try and hide away from but also it’s the place where people can sometimes open up and share things with each other, reveal the truth about who they really are.”

Already David Holmes, Laurent Garnier, Andrew Weatherall and Annie Mac are fans of the record, Weatherall so much so that he has already featured tracks on his radio show.

And with the ying and yang, Kieran is feeling nervously optimistic.

“There has to be some hope, and that’s how I wanted the record to end.”

After all, joy comes at a price but following darkness there’s always another dawn.